Chuck Grassley: “it should be quite obvious from America's increasing dependence on foreign sources of oil that it has now reached a very…”

“it should be quite obvious from America's increasing dependence on foreign sources of oil that it has now reached a very critical threshold which calls for immediate action. This bill before us is part of our immediate action, as it has some things in it to increase our availability of domestic supplies of energy. Global oil prices and supplies remain beyond our reach, just as surely as our own demand here at home will remain constant. Abroad, oil prices and supplies are at best in a state of flux, very unpredictable. At worst, you could say that things are beyond our control. Our obvious goal in a lot of our energy legislation--some of it is part of this bill and part of the debate we had 2 years ago on the highway bill--is to get some of this under our control by having less dependence upon foreign sources of oil. In China, for instance, the competition for oil is unprecedented. So determined is China to protect itself and its burgeoning growth against global uncertainty, they have recently secured supplies from both Canada and Venezuela and are actively seeking oil from producers upon whom the United States has traditionally relied. Some experts suggest that we have now reached our global supply limits, perhaps even that we have exceeded them. If they are correct--and of course we hope they are not--we face more shortages and rising prices.…”